Guest Blog: Blame it on Your Stress Hormones

Do you have trouble sleeping at night? Do you wake up tired in the morning?

Do you feel like you could nap at 10am or 3pm every day, even though you get enough sleep?

Are you exhausted all day but then have trouble sleeping at night?

Are headaches, brain fog and trouble focusing a regular occurrence?

Do you feel overwhelmed, anxious and incapable of coping with even a small amount of stress anymore? 

Blame it on your stress hormones - specifically cortisol. 

What is cortisol? 
Cortisol is an important steroid hormone in our body. It is released when we feel we are in danger, (or our safety is threatened) and this is a good thing. It kicks us into gear, and triggers the release of glucose into our bloodstream giving us the energy our body believes we need to fight or run. When we are healthy, cortisol also wakes us up in the morning, gives us energy for daily stressors and then drops at night so we can produce melatonin. 

The problem is that many of us live very stressful lives, and we are over using our stress response system. We are constantly in ‘fight or flight’ and our bodies are constantly producing cortisol. This is when we experience symptoms of high cortisol and burnout, as described above. 

The other end of the spectrum is when we have been too stressed for too long, and our bodies can’t keep up with the cortisol production. This leads to low cortisol and feels like extreme fatigue and exhaustion, no matter how much sleep we get. 

Cortisol dysregulation looks and feels different for everyone. Instead of having a healthy cortisol curve that peaks in the morning and starts to drop off towards the evening it can start to look like: 

• high cortisol too early in the morning (waking us up before we are ready)

• high cortisol all day (leaving us feeling anxious all the time and then unable to sleep)

• low cortisol in the morning (we never wake up feeling rested)

• high cortisol at night (making it impossible to fall asleep) 

The good news is that we can take simple steps and start to regulate our stress hormones. We can start to heal our nervous system, get good quality sleep, have energy in the morning, and use our stress hormones for the daily stressors without feeling exhausted. But, we have to stop stressing our bodies out.  

Skipping meals, high intensity exercise, no exercise, vitamin and mineral deficiencies, repressed emotions, poor quality sleep and dehydration are all examples of things that will increase cortisol. When cortisol is already high this is too much for our bodies to handle, and eventually will lead to burnout symptoms and then illness. 

Here is what to take into consideration when decreasing stress and regulating cortisol.

Eat 3 Whole Food Meals/Day 
Eating 3 real, whole food meals a day will balance our blood sugar, as well as  create routine and safety in our bodies. This is what our bodies need and is one of the best ways we can start to regulate cortisol. 

Low impact Exercise 
If you are tired all the time, and have other burnout symptoms, high intensity exercise puts too much stress on your body. Stick with walking, yoga, pilates, swimming and other low impact exercises until you feel more energized and regulated in your body. 

Hydrate 
Dehydration is stress on our body, so work on getting ½ your body weight in ounces of water every day. On top of that make sure you are replenishing electrolytes like sodium, potassium, magnesium (this isn’t just for athletes). When our bodies are stressed we burn through certain vitamins and minerals at a faster rate. 

Consider vitamins and Supplements 
20 minutes of extreme stress can deplete your body of vitamin C. Talk to a health professional before adding vitamins and supplements, but vitamin C, B and zinc are often depleted from chronic stress. 

Poke holes in your stress cup 
Find ways to de-stress. Think of a glass of water; the water is our stress. If we keep adding water without dumping any out it is going to fill up really quickly, and eventually overflow. Using tools like walking, meditation, journaling, nature, breathwork or yoga will help remove water from the glass so that it isn't always overflowing. 

Rest 
Low quality sleep, or not enough sleep places a huge amount of stress on our bodies. It makes us have to work so much harder during the day, and therefore increases our cortisol. If you feel tired at 9pm go to bed. Create an evening routine and prioritize your sleep. Good sleep hygiene and quality sleep is so important in decreasing stress hormones and regulating cortisol. 

Start to understand the source of your stress 
Dysregulated cortisol and burnout symptoms come from chronic stress. Starting to understand, and acknowledge where the stress in your life is coming from can do wonders in lifting the weight off your shoulders. Even if you can’t change, or aren’t ready to make changes around the stress, letting yourself feel it without pushing it away is a great start. 

Regulating stress hormones and healing burnout will take time, and you won’t notice changes overnight. But if you start now in 1-2 months you will start to feel different. Start with 1-2 things if the list feels overwhelming, and then work on adding more once you start to build routines around your new habits. 

Now take a deep breath and roll your shoulders up, down and back. Take one more deep breath. This information was meant to help you, not stress you out more. If you have any questions please feel free to reach out to me, or find me on instagram. I’m here for you!

Jordan Comerford is a burnout & health coach with a wealth of knowledge to help you feel & live better. You can find out more information about her services on her website: https://www.jcwellness.co/